Postdoctoral Researcher (M/F) in European law/ sociology of law and European human rights justi[...]

CNRS; France; Sur place; EUR 35 000 - 50 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

A leading French research institution is seeking a full-time researcher to analyze the influence of NGOs in European courts. The role involves legal and sociological analysis, conducting interviews, and contributing to scholarly publications. Ideal candidates should have strong legal skills in European human rights law and be fluent in English, with French as an advantage.

Qualifications

• Legal skills in European human rights law and jurisprudence.
• Conducting sensitive interviews and working on archives.
• Ability to co-write high-level scientific articles.
• Fluent in English, French is an advantage.

Responsabilités

• Analyze the influence of NGOs in European courts.
• Conduct interviews and analyze legal archives.
• Contribute to the scientific dissemination of research results.
• Work on six dedicated work packages.

Connaissances

Legal skills in European human rights law

Sociological skills

Ability to co-write high-level international scientific articles

Fluent English

Fluent French

Knowledge of the judicial environment

Description du poste

Organisation/Company CNRS Department Institut de l'Ouest : Droit et Europe Research Field Sociology Juridical sciences Criminology Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Country France Application Deadline 1 Jan 2026 - 00:00 (UTC) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35 Offer Starting Date 1 Mar 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

The research project focuses on analyzing the increasing influence of non-governmental organizations and private foundations in the penal field through their litigation at the European courts (both the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union). In particular, the recruited person will investigate disputes in the criminal field (including abortion, medical assisted reproduction, euthanasia, LGTBQ rights, prostitution, pornography, hate speech and crime, counter-terrorism, detention policies) initiated by conservative and liberal groups to impact the European human rights justice through judicial, cognitive, moral and political tactics. He/she will study these issues and how these private interest groups attempt to influence criminal policies through the European human rights judicial systems by elaborating and applying judicial, political, and financial strategies. Through a legal method (interpretation of the case law, its inputs and outputs) and a socio-legal (interviews, analysis of documents and the grey literature) lens, he/she will demonstrate how these private interest groups impact penality through the jurisprudence delivered by the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union. The recruited researcher will contribute to 6 Work packages (WP1-6) on legal, socio-legal, and political analyses of actions taken by conservative and liberal NGOs in the penal domain.

Work packages contributions

• WP2: Legal, socio-legal and political analysis
  • Analysis of the European litigation by the private interest groups and the judgments obtained, including:
    • Direct complaints (task 1)
    • Third-party interventions (task 2)
    • Submissions made by the interest groups on the execution of the European judgments (task 3)
    • Political effects of the litigation and judgments (task 4)
  • Global analysis of the legal, socio-legal and political influence played by private interest groups (task 5)
• WP3 (28 months): Empirical analysis
  • Analysis of the judicial and financial archives of interest groups (NGOs and private foundations)
  • Interviews with NGOs and private foundations (task 7)
  • Meeting with the British partners
  • Consultation of the ECtHR archives with access to the complaints and third-party interventions and interviews with private and judicial actors (task 11)
  • Interviews with judges and lawyers working at the Court of Justice of the European Union (task 12)
  • Analysis of the financial statements, financial and annual reports of interest groups (task 13)
  • Analysis of the documents on strategic litigation pursued by interest groups (task 14)
  • Analysis of the complaints, third-party submissions and submissions related to the execution of judgments made by interest groups which are not directly available through judicial databases (task 15)
  • Interviews with private and judicial actors (task 16)
  • Contribution to the general analysis of the empirical inquiry (task 17)
• WP4: Comparison of the judicial, political and empirical analyses
  • Analysis of the judicial outcomes obtained by private interest groups in the light of the interviews, documents and archives (task 18)
  • Analysis of the legal and administrative outcomes obtained by private interest groups in the light of the interviews, documents and archives (task 19)
  • Analysis of the political outcomes obtained by private interest groups in the light of the interviews, documents and archives (task 20)
  • Participation in the global comparison between the judicial, legal, political and empirical analyses (task 21)
• WP5: Theoretical and practical outputs
  • Contribution to the theoretical outputs: creation of a theoretical model that reflects private judicial, legal and political influences on penal and detention policies (task 21)
  • Contribution to Practical outputs: creation of a database on the legal, judicial and practical influence of conservative and liberal groups (task 22)
• WP6: Participation in the scientific and social dissemination
  • Contribution to the scientific dissemination of the results (task 23) on open-access in order to disseminate the results of the research in a fair and efficient way:
    • Publications in international high-ranked scientific and open journals (special issues and articles) and scientific books
    • Presentations at scientific conferences and involvement in the organisation of a scientific conference (for a scientific audience)
  • Contribution to Social dissemination (for a global and professional audience) (task 24): involvement in the organisation of 1 conference at the European Court of Human Rights (in Strasbourg)

This recruitment is part of the ERC-2023-advanced grant research agreement entitled "Which Moral Influences on European penal and prison policies?", "JUST PEN" 101141553 financed by the European Research Council and obtained under the ERC advanced grant scheme. See https://www.inshs.cnrs.fr/en/node/5353 , and https://iode.univ-rennes.fr/actualites/gaetan-cliquennois-laureat-dune-… The researcher will work closely with the ERC members involved in WP1-6 and the principal investigator (PI), Gaëtan Cliquennois. Work meetings are regularly held online in English within the consortium. Researchers (including the recruited researcher) must work together with the socio-professional partners involved in the ERC JUST_PEN.

Required skills

• Legal skills in European human rights law and the jurisprudence delivered by both the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union
• Sociological skills: conducting sensitive interviews, working on archives
• Ability to co-write high-level international scientific articles
• Language skills: fluent English (scientifically read, spoken, and written) and fluent French is an advantage
• Knowledge of the judicial environment, international elites, and NGOs is an advantage